BIG TREES OF CALIFORNIA. 13 



although he has been the owner of tlie grove for over twenty years, that act of vandal- 

 ism was perpetrated before he purchased it, or it would never have been permitted. 



Mr. Hutchiugs^ describes the felling of this tree as follows: 



The next act in this botanical tragedy was the cutting down of the tree, in order 

 to accommodate those who Avished to carry home specimens of its wood as souvenirs 

 of their visit. But how to do this was the puzzling conundrum! If one could fit- 

 tingly imagine so ludicrous a sight a« a few lilliputian men attempting to chop down 

 this brobdingnagian giant, his contempt would reach its becoming climax. This, 

 therefore, was given up as altogether too chimerical and impracticable. Finally, the 

 plan was adopted of boring it ofiE with pump augers. This employed five men twenty- 

 two days to accomplish; and after the stem was finally severed from the stump, the 

 uprightness of its position, and breadth of its base, prevented its overthrow; so that 

 two and a half of the twenty-two days were spent in inserting wedges, and driving 

 them into the butt of the tree, by logs suspended on ropes, thereby to compel its 

 downfall. While these slow and apparently hopeless attempts were being under- 

 taken, and the workmen had retired for dinner, a gust of wind took hold of its top, 

 and hurled it over without the least seeming effort; its fall causing the earth to trem- 

 ble as by an earthquake. Thus this noble monarch of the forest was dethroned 

 after "braving the battle and the breeze" for nearly two thousand years. Verily, 

 how little real veneration does the average man possess. 



The Mother of the Forest. — In this grove once stood a most beautiful tree, graceful 

 in fonn and unexcelled in proportions; hence (as in human experience) those very 

 qualities at once became the most attractive to the eyes of the unfeeling spoliator. 

 This bore the queenly name of The Mother of the Forest. 



In the smnmer of"l854, the bark was stripped from its trunk, l)y a Mr. George 

 Gale, for purjwses of exhiljition in the East, to the height of 116 feet. (See PI. II, 

 fig. 2.) It now mea.sures in circ-umference, at the base, without the bark, 84 feet; 20 

 feet from base, 69 feet; 70 feet from base, 4;; feet 6 inches; 116 feet from base, and up 

 to the bark, o9 feet 6 inches. The full circumference at base, including bark, was 

 90 feet. Its height was 321 feet. The average thickness of bark was 11 inches, 

 although in places it was about 2 feet. This tree is estimated to contain 537,000 feet of 

 Bound inch lumber. To the first branch it is 137 feet. 



The small black marks upon the tree indicate points where 2^-inch auger holes 

 were bored, and into these rounds were inserted, by which to ascend and descend 

 while remo\ing the bark. At different distances iipward, especially at the top, 

 numerous dates and names of visitors have been cut. It is contemplated to construct 

 a circular stairway around this tree. When the bark was being removed, a young 

 man fell from the scaffolding — or rather out of a descending noose — at a distance of 

 79 feet from the ground, and escaped with a l)roken limb. The writer was within a 

 few yards of him when he fell, and was agreeably surprised to discover that he had 

 not broken his neck. 



Tfie Father of the ForeM. — But a short distance from this [The Mother of the Forest] 

 lies the prostrate form of one that was probably the tallest Sequoia that ever grew — 

 The Father of the Forest. This tree, when standing in its primitive majesty, is 

 accredite^l with exceeding 400 feet in height, with a circumference at its base of 110 

 feet; and, although limbless, without bark, and even much of its sap [wood] decayed 

 and gone, has still proportions that once could crown him king of the grove. In 

 falling it struck against "Old Hercules," another old-time rival in size, by which the 

 upper part of his trunk was shivered into fragments, that were scattered in every 

 direction. While fire has eaten out the heart of " The Father of the Forest, " and 

 con.«umed his huge limbs, as of many others, the following measurements, recently 

 taken, will prove that he was among the giants of those days, and that "even in death 

 Btill lives." From the roots, to where the center of the trunk can be reached on 

 horseback, it is 90 feet. The distance that one can ride erect through it on horseback 

 \» 82 feet 6 inches. Height of entrance, 9 feet 4 inches; of arch to floor, 10 feet 9 

 inches. Across the roots it is 28 feet; to where one would have an idea of standing 

 to chop it down, 23 feet 2 inches; 10 feet from the roots its diameter is 20 feet 8 

 inches; 100 feet from roots, 12 feet 1 inch; 150 feet from roots, 10 feet 4 inches; 

 extreme length, to where any sign of top can be found, 365 feet. 



But no one can approximately realize the immense proportions of this prostrate 

 forest sire, without climbing to its top, and walking down it for its entire length; by 

 this, moreover, he will ascertain that it was nearly 200 feet to the first branch. At 

 the end of the burnt cavity within, is a never-failing spring of deliciously cool water. 



^ J. M. Hutchings in "In the Heart of the Sierras." 



